Furniture shoe



Nov. 18, 1930. F. JANTZEN l,78l,95l

FURNITURE SHOE Filed May 7. 1928 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented" Nov. 18,1930 UNITED STATES IFR'ED J'ANElZ'ZEN, or BRONXQNEW-YO'BK ronmruimsiion1 Application filed May 7, was; serial {Nol 375,338.. y

The objects of this invention are to provide a base or shoe for the legsof tables and other pieces of furniture, which can be easily applied,which when applied will be firmly held in place, which will supportheavy articles .of furniture without indenting, scratching,

or otherwise marring linoleum or other floor may be modified withoutdeparture from the true spirit and broad scope of the invention.

; Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the shoe as it appears applied tothe leg of the table or other piece of furniture; Fig. 2 is a brokenvertical sectional view of the leg and foot on a somewhat larger scale;Fig. 3 is a detachedperspective view of the compressible positioning andholding sleeve.

In Figs. 1 and 2, a hollow metal leg of a table or thelike is indicatedat 5 and fastened in the lower end of this structure there is shown asleeve 6 of corresponding shape secured permanently in place as by meansof spot welds 7. This sleeve is secured so that its lower end projectsand the projecting portion is shown longitudinally slottedat 8 to'pro-'vide a series of separated tongues 9 which can move toward eachother,closing up the intervening slots as inFig. 2, when the sleeve is forcedinto a tapered socket.

The base or shoe 10 is shown as ahollow structure having a downwardlytapering socket 11 in the top of the sameto receive the projecting splitportion of the sleeve, a shoulder 12 to seat the end of the sleeve and achase or groove 18. below theshoulder to receive the points or angles 14of the spring detents 15,'Wl1l0l1" latter are suitably secured as bywelding or brazing inside the sleeve;-

The shoe is made usually by molding or casting, and the internal surfaceis preferably left with the original more :or; less rough Vcastor'inolded surface, as indicated, tofafiord a frictional grip withthe sleeve. The spring detents, in addition to this frictional gripandthe wedging of the'sp'lit portion of the sleeve down into the taperedsocket, serve to Ifirinly secure the shoe in place. The'spring detentsprovide an auxiliary holding means and serve to prevent the shoe fromdropping ,off'even if the holding'efl'ect of the wedg .ing actionandfrictionalsurface is" lost by 1 long use or nus-handling of the'furni-ture; In addition, if desired, a suitable-cement may be used whenthe shoe applied, this serving tomake the shoe practically an integralpart I of the leg. p v y The bottom of the shoe is made with a smoothflat surface 16 terminating at the edges preferably in upwardly roundedsurfaces 17 This construction affords a wide fiat base surface whichwill support even a 7 heavy piece of furniture without indentinglinoleum or other floor surfaces, and, the .up-

Wardly rounded edges of this flat supporting surface'provide a sledeffect, facilitating the movement. of the furniture. To gain the Vgreatest flatjsupportingsurface and also to- I add to the gracefulappearance of the article, 7

the sidesof the shoe as theyapproach the bottom are shown as having anoutward flare V as indicated at 18, and these flaring surfaces ay befinished with an ornamental molding for beading 19. "The shoe 'isappliedby simply, driving it in q place over the leg of the furniture, or inthe case of the hollow steel furniture shown, over the split projectingportion of the in-.

serted sleeve. The crowding of thesleeve frictional" gripping effectsdescribed "firmly and positively locks the shoein place, which effect ismade ,morelcertain by the "cement,

when thatis used. One or more of the spring 9 a further interlock tofasten" the shoe posi-" V detents may be employed, and these act astively in place. The. flat base structure of the shoe prevents marringor scratching, and

' the upturned sled like edges leave no corner edges to mar the floorwhen the furniture intothe tapered socket, by the wedging a'nd iscarelessly shifted. It is to be noted furthermore that no screws orsimilar loose fastenings are required to secure the shoe in place, andhence there are no projecting screw heads to scratch the floor as indevices for the purpose which have been provided heretofore. m to Theshoe may be made in square or other cross-sectional shape to suit theshape of the 10 furniture. As indicated by the brokenlines' in Fi 1, theshoe may be used with either straig t sided or tapered legconstructions. Thewide flat bottom surface may be pol ished or otherwisesmoothed, if desired, to facilitate sliding of thefurniture overlinoleum or other floor surfaces and such surface being continuous andof wide extent, this sliding movement will not mark or injure the floorsurface. y What is claimed is:

1. As anew article of manufacture, a shoe for the leg of a table orother piece of furniture, comprising a hollow cast or molded memberhaving a smooth fiat bottom support- 5 ing surface and provided with adownwardly tapering socket inthe top of the same whose walls have theroughness of the original casting or molding to thereby wedge .over andgrip the surface of the furniture leg and a shoulder at the foot of saidcsocket with a chase beneath said shoulder. V r 2. In combination withan article of furni ture, a sleeve attached to the lower end of the sameand a shoe having a downwardly V tapering socket for wedging engagementover said sleeve, said shoe having a wide flatcontinuous smooth bottomsupporting surface and a spring detent carried by the sleeve forinterlocking engagement within the socket of 40 the shoe and the shoehaving a shoulder'at the foot of e the socket beneath which the springdetent interlocks.

3. As anew article of manufacture, a shoe for the leg of a table orother piece of furniture, comprising an integral hollow one piece moldedmember provided with a downwardly tapering socket in the top of thesame-whose walls have the roughness of' the original molding to therebywedge over. and friction- 7 5o ally grip the surface of the furnitureleg, said member having a wideflat continuoussmoothbottomsurfaceofsubstantially the full external dimensions of thearticle and thereby forming :a continuous fiat supporting surface equalto carrying the weight of the furniture without marring a fioor surfaceof linoleum or the like. Q 7 i V In testimony whereof I affix mysignature. vFRED JANTZEN-f

